The total majority of Bitcoin holders think of their favorite toy as the next step in the evolution of money (less so for active users). I don't deny the technological innovation in respect to the blockchain and the decentralized nature of how new money is created through mining. With that said, I still don't think that Bitcoin did actually revolutionize the concept of money itself. Gold as money existed long before fiat, and it was "created" in a decentralized way too, so nothing particularly new here as well...
I have an idea what could be an entirely new form of money (actually, it is not my idea), but first I would like to hear from you, guys (and gals), what you think about the truly new money that is yet to be invented or implemented
Bitcoin is not a toy, it's currency. I really sure that paper money will replaced by something that gives more benefit than fiat. It could be new technology such bitcoin or something precious such gold.
This is a matter of convention
In any case, right now Bitcoin is not a currency by any means. As I always say in such cases, money is what money does. So far Bitcoin is a far cry from that. It is essentially a vehicle for speculation and profiteering, that's why I'm inclined to think of it as a toy, not as a hard asset or currency in its own right. But that doesn't mean of course that Bitcoin can't become a full-fledged currency eventually, and I myself am totally in favor of that. Bitcoin adoption as a means of payment will happen at substantially higher prices than what we see today, so why on Earth should I be against it even if I tend to consider it only as a speculative asset?
^^^^^Digital Tulips^^^^^
There is something about the blockchain technologies that I think is being ignored or underestimated in this discussion. The concept of tokenizing decentralized distributed networks is something that is only recently gaining momentum. The revolutionary aspect of these emerging technologies that revolutionizes the concept of money is that they can "tap" into the "wisdom" of the masses in a tokenized manner which doesn't rely upon trust. Intellectual property can be tokenized, smart contracts can be initialized without remediation, data mining analytics can be derived and monetized....etc. When one can throw their thoughts out into the network and receive immediate compensation for their contribution in the form of an exchangeable asset, the concept of money has been revolutionized....This is only the beginning!
I still can't say that it revolutionizes the concept of money
As I can see, you refer to the blockchain technology, not Bitcoin as such, which is only linked to Bitcoin as money but can be used separately, on its own. It can be said that Bitcoin just employs the blockchain platform, which could be potentially harnessed for a variety of other uses, though this is debatable how competitive these other uses would be in comparison to more common ways of doing the same things. It is not particularly different from what, for example, gold does. It is also a sort of "technological platform" which can be employed for using as money, jewelry, in electronics, medicine and whatnot, but does it change the concept of money?
I understand what you're pointing out....But, I think that there is more to money (now) than merely being a medium of exchange and a means to store value (as before).
The technology behind bitcoin is what made the bitcoin network what it has become. Bitcoin is just a name given to the network which secures a specific implementation of the technology. The thing that is revolutionary about the technology is that it specifically removes the necessity to regulate it's transfer by a centralized authority while it eliminates the need to be backed by a physical commodity....These characteristics in combination with the trend toward a more digitally connected world is what revolutionizes the concept of "money." Imagine trying to trade a million in gold for a deed to a property in Antartica.....which would involve the shipment of the gold (security, transportation, receipt notarization, ....etc), would require the assistance of lawyers, notaries, and registrars, and would require the remediation of centralized authorities (governments)...Now, imagine the same transaction as published on a decentralized distributed ledger (blockchain). The revolutionary change is that there is no need for an intermediary device (gold, silver, paper), and there are no requirements to rely upon trusted third parties (banks). But, it's bigger than that still! The value of information gathered from distributed networks is huge....network information analytics is exposing trends that were impossible to realize up to this point....that information can now be monetized in ways that are bound only by our imaginations!
While we're not there yet....the revolutionary consequences of the blockchain technologies will effect the way the world interacts socially, politically, and economically!